From Zambia to Afghanistan, WFP warns El Nino’s extreme weather is causing a surge in hunger

By GERALD IMRAY
Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The UN’s World Food Programme says extreme weather attributed to the El Nino phenomenon is causing a surge in hunger in several countries, including Zambia and Afghanistan, and called on donors for much-needed help. El Nino is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific that shifts global weather patterns, and studies say that as the world warms, they may get stronger. In a statement, the WFP warned that southern Africa was the “epicenter of the crisis” after a cycle of floods and drought has battered the region over the last three years, leaving millions impacted.